Corporate Partnerships at

the United Nations

Published by
TRAC–Transnational Resource & Action Center
www.corpwatch.org
September 2000
 Tangled Up In Blue:
Corporate Partnerships at the United Nations

Table of Contents:
Executive Summary ........................................................1
Introduction......................................................................2
Four Fatal Flaws of the Global Compact ........................3
Global Compact Corporate Partners................................4
Other Partnerships............................................................6
The UN’s Guidelines ......................................................7
UN-Corporate Partnerships chart ....................................8
A Brief History ................................................................9
Ideology and Politics of Corporate Partnerships ..........10
Toward a Corporate-Free United Nations......................11

Appendix A: The Global Compact ................................12

Appendix B: Citizens Compact ....................................13
Partial list of groups endorsing the Citizens Compact ..14
Endnotes ........................................................................15

Published by TRAC–The Transnational Resource & Action Center September 2000.

 E x e c u t i v e S u m m a r y
• Secretary General Kofi Annan has encouraged all UN agencies to form partnerships with the pri-
vate sector. The centerpiece of this initiative is his Global Compact, launched with the agencies
for environment (UNEP), labor (ILO) and human rights (UNHCHR) in July, 2000.

• This report argues that corporate influence at the UN is already too great, and that new partner-
ships are leading down a slippery slope toward the partial privatization and commercialization of
the UN system itself.

• The Secretary General’s office and UN agencies such as UNICEF, UNDP, WHO, and UNESCO
are partnering with corporations known for human, labor and environmental rights violations.

• The Global Compact and its cousin partnerships at other UN agencies threaten the mission and
integrity of the United Nations.

The Global Compact The New Guidelines

The Global Compact has four major problems: • The new guidelines for UN cooperation with cor-
porations state that companies that violate human
1. Wrong Companies: The Secretary General has rights “are not eligible for partnership.”
shown poor judgment by allowing known human
rights, labor and environmental violators to join. • Mr. Annan violated the guidelines just a few days
after they were published by inviting Shell to join
2. Wrong Relationship: Clearly the UN must have the Global Compact and its envisaged partnerships.
interactions with corporations, as when they procure
goods and services or to hold them accountable, but it • The UN claims that it lacks the capacity to monitor
should not aspire to “partnership.” corporations’ activities. This creates a Catch-22
situation. Without monitoring capacity the UN will
3. Wrong Image: The UN’s positive image is vulner- not be able to determine, under its guidelines, if a
able to being sullied by corporate criminals, while corporation is complicit in human rights violations.
companies get a chance to “bluewash” their image by
wrapping themselves in the flag of the United • The Guidelines also provide for the limited
Nations. corporate use of the UN logo. This presents a
potential marketing bonanza for companies like
4. No Monitoring or Enforcement: Companies that Nike.
sign-up get to declare their allegiance to UN princi-
ples without making a commitment to follow them.

Toward a Corporate Free UN

If the Global Compact and other corporate partnerships represent the low-road, then there are four key
steps that can be taken to build a high-road.

1. Support the Code of Conduct on transnational corporations and human rights being drafted by the
UN Subcomission on Human Rights.

2. Support UN-brokered multilateral environmental and health agreements which can reign in abusive
corporate behavior on a global scale.

3. Pressure the US government to pay the UN the money it owes with no strings attached.

4. Support and promote The Citizens Compact, which calls for a legally binding framework for
corporate behavior.

Tangled Up In Blue 3
 I n t r o d u c t i o n
s we move into a new millennium, “We The same UN agencies which NGOs and citizen movements

A Peoples” of the United Nations are asking a

momentous question: Will corporations rule the
world or will they be subordinated by governments and
respect for their dedication to UN values. They include
those dealing with the environment (UNEP), labor stan-
dards (ILO), refugees (OHCHR), sustainable human
civil society to the universal values of human rights, development (UNDP), children (UNICEF), public
labor rights and environmental rights? health (WHO), industrialization (UNIDO), and science,
Or, to ask it another way, do the Nike swoosh and education and culture (UNESCO) (see chart p. 8).
the UN olive branch emblem belong together? Are Mr. Annan has personally spearheaded the highest
McDonald’s and Disney companies that represent uni- profile of these partnerships, the Global Compact. On
versal educational and cultural values? Do giant oil July 26th, eighteen months after he floated the concept
companies like Shell, BP and Chevron hold the keys to in Davos, Switzerland, Mr. Annan appeared with repre-
sustainable development? sentatives of some fifty corporations and a handful of
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan thinks the non-governmental partners to officially launch the
answers might be yes, and he is leading a major effort Compact in New York.
to form partnerships between the United Nations and Many long-term supporters of the UN who care
the business community. The “business community,” in deeply about the institution and the values it repre-
this case, does not mean the small and medium sized sents, were not there. Many believe that the UN is the
companies that still maintain some loyalty to the local only international organization with the potential to
community. It is made up of the giant transnational provide some democratic control over corporations.
corporations—companies that have deepened their The UN could be a counterbalance to the destructive
enormous power through the process of economic force of the WTO and corporate globalization. But as
globalization. Many of them have been targets of an alliance of groups wrote to Mr. Annan in July, the
protest in Seattle, Washington D.C., Bangkok, and Global Compact and its cousin partnerships at other
dozens of other cities. UN agencies “threaten the mission and integrity of the
Mr. Annan has said that “in a world of common United Nations.” Corporate influence at the UN is
challenges, the UN and business are finding common already too great, and the new partnerships are leading
ground” and that “confrontation has been replaced by down a slippery slope toward privatization and com-
cooperation and joint ventures.”1 The Secretary mercialization of the UN system itself.
General has encouraged all UN agencies to form part- As an alternative to the Global Compact, an alliance
nerships with the private sector. These are some of the of groups has invited the Secretary General to join a
“Citizens Compact” on the UN and cor-
porations. (See appendix B) This alliance
has opposed the Global Compact, the
UNDP’s Global Sustainable
Development Facility and several other
partnerships.
In early 1999, Kofi Annan warned of a
“backlash” against the “global market.” 2
The events of Seattle, Washington and
elsewhere show that a backlash against
corporate globalization is in full swing,
and that citizens movements are deter-
mined to overthrow corporate rule. It
would be a tragedy if the UN allowed
itself to become a target of the backlash
by allying itself with corporate and com-
mercial values. UN values of peace,
democracy, human rights, labor, environ-
ment and health are more popular-and
Do the Nike Swoosh and the UN Olive Branches Belong Together? UN Secretary more globalized-than ever. The UN must
General Kofi Annan and Nike CEO Phil Knight think they might. maintain its unique dedication to these
Reuters NewMedia, Inc. values, as its Charter demands.
4 Tangled Up In Blue 4
 F o u r F a t a l
F l a w s o f t h e level and on the ground in developing countries “help-
ing villagers link up to the Internet” etc.3
G l o b a l But the Global Compact and its cousin partnership
C o m p a c t programs have several major problems.

First…we would like to see companies who join the 1. Wrong Companies
Global Compact make a public statement that they The Secretary General and various agency heads
will be open to independent monitoring…Secondly, it have shown poor judgement by allowing known
has to be reported publicly…all the stakeholders are human rights, labor and environmental violators to
entitled to have the information resulting from that join in UN partnerships. Specific partners of the
independent monitoring. And thirdly…a sanctions Compact include Nike, Shell, Rio Tinto, Novartis, BP,
system has to be envisaged…so that companies who Aracruz, BASF, Daimler Chrysler, Bayer and DuPont.
violate these principles cannot continue to benefit Other UN agencies have shown similarly poor
from the partnership…We think that those three steps judgement by choosing Chevron, McDonalds’s,
are absolutely essential if this initiative is to be effec-
Disney and Unocal as partners in their programs (see
tive, credible and win the trust of human rightschart). In some cases, these choices are clearly in
organizations.
violation of the UN’s own guidelines that “companies
Pierre Sane, Amnesty International, July 26, 2000. which violate human rights are not eligible for part-
nership.”4 Other partner companies do not stand
he Global Compact consists of accused of such violations, but many are

T nine principles, distilled from key

environmental, labor and human
rights agreements, that the Secretary
The Global
Compact
giants of industries like oil, chemicals and
genetic engineering, whose impacts on
communities, workers and the global
environment are broadly opposed by citi-
General asks businesses to abide by. threatens the zen movements. In addition, the
(See appendix A) Corporate participation
is voluntary; there is no screening UN's mission International Chamber of Commerce,
process, nor is there monitoring or which represents mainly large companies,
enforcement. The details of the other and integrity has been the dominant force for the busi-
UN-corporate partnerships differ, but the ness side of the Global Compact. The
main idea is the same—to coax the ICC routinely lobbies to weaken interna-
resources of businesses to the aid of sustainable tional agreements that would control their members’
development. In some cases, for example WHO and behavior—accords often brokered by the UN.
UNICEF, part of the purpose of the partnerships is to
bring needed funds into their efforts. In other cases, 2. Wrong Relationship
like the UNDP, UN agencies seem to aspire to be a Public-private partnerships are common for specific
kind of broker or advisor for worthy projects that the projects with specific goals. The UN’s use of the term
private sector undertakes. is more general, but still one assumes that a partner-
The Global Compact itself aims to gain a commit- ship is entered only when the partners share the same
ment from corporations to the nine principles and then goals. The UN has not adequately explained why it
to implement these principles in at least three ways. must partner with organizations that have completely
First, participating corporations have committed to pro- different goals from its own.
mote the Compact in their mission statements and Although modern corporations acknowledge the
annual reports. Second, these corporations will post existence of “stakeholders” other than their share-
“specific examples progress they have made, or lessons holders, in practical and legal terms they are account-
they have learned in putting the principles into prac- able only to the latter, while the UN is founded on a
tice” on the Global Compact website. Civil Society commitment to ethical principles and accountability
partners in the Compact such as Amnesty International to “We The Peoples.” Occasionally UN and corporate
and International Confederation of Free Trade Unions interests coincide; at other times they conflict. As
will then be invited to respond to these specific case UNICEF Director Carol Bellamy has said, “It is dan-
studies. Third, Global Compact corporations will par- gerous to assume that the goals of the private sector
ticipate in partnerships with the UN at both the policy are somehow synonymous with those of the United

Tangled Up In Blue 5
 The Global Compact Corporate Partners
Below is a partial list of some of the 50 Global University after they joined the WRC. Nike became a
Compact partners with the most egregious human sweatshop poster child not just through complicity in
rights and environmental records. labor abuses but through active searching for coun-
tries with non-union labor, low wages, and low envi-
Shell is a corporation with a history of environ-
ronmental standards for its manufacturing operations.
mental destruction and complicity in human rights
Nike is a leader in the “race to the bottom”—a trend
abuses, most infamously in Nigeria. Ken Saro-Wiwa
that epitomizes the negative tendencies of corporate-
blamed his execution squarely on Shell. Its opera-
led globalization.
tions there are also notorious for environmental con-
tamination and double standards. Shell has adopted Rio Tinto Plc is a British mining corporation
sophisticated rhetoric about its social responsibilities, which has created so many environment, human rights,
but it has not shown understanding, let alone remorse, and development problems that a global network of
about its own role. For example, on its website, Shell trade unions, indigenous peoples, church groups, com-
posts a photograph of a pro-Ogoni rally, without munities and activists has emerged to fight its abuses.
acknowledging that the Ogoni people’s protests have For instance, the company stands accused of complici-
been against Shell itself. ty in or direct violations of environmental, labor and
human rights in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea,
BP Amoco is another company with sophisticated
Philippines, Namibia, Madagascar, the United States
rhetoric on environmental and social issues. But their
and Australia, among others.
actions do not measure up. CEO John Browne admits
that climate change is a problem for any oil company, Novartis is engaged in an aggressive public rela-
yet his company continues to search for oil and gas tions and regulatory battle to force consumers and
even in remote and pristine regions. Its investments in farmers to accept genetically engineered agriculture,
renewable energy are a pittance compared with the without full testing for potential harms and without
size of the corporation and its investments in ongoing full access to information. The behavior of Novartis
fossil fuel exploration and production. in the area of genetically engineered agriculture is
diametrically opposed to the precautionary principle,
Nike, an international symbol of sweatshops and
one of the principles of the Global Compact.
corporate greed, is the target of one of the most active
global campaigns for corporate accountability. The Other companies with damaging or controversial
company has made announcements of changes to its practices in the Global Compact include Aracruz
behavior only after enormous public pressure. It has Cellulose, targeted by Brazilian activists, Aventis,
also aggressively opposed the only union and human one of the companies behind the $50 million per year
rights-group supported independent monitoring pro- PR campaign to gain acceptance for transgenic foods,
gram—the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC). CEO German chemical giants Bayer and BASF, DuPont
Phil Knight withdrew a $30 million donation to the of ozone depletion infamy, and DaimlerChrysler, the
University of Oregon after the University joined the auto maker with the highest proportion of gas guz-
WRC. Nike also cut its multimillion dollar contracts zling SUV’s on the American market.
with the University of Michigan and Brown

3. Wrong Image
Nations, because they most emphatically are not.”5 Corporations attempt to project certain values and
Obviously you cannot have a full partnership with an images. Disney hopes to represent family entertain-
organization of interests antithetical to your own. You ment. McDonald’s advertises fast, friendly food. Nike
cannot simultaneously regulate and partner with the associates itself with the joy of sports. Shell, Chevron
same corporations. Clearly the UN must have interac- and BP promote their own commitment to environ-
tions with corporations, as when they procure goods mental stewardship.
and services or to hold them accountable, but it
Sometimes they inadvertently take on other associa-
should not aspire to “partnership” except with organi-
tions. To many, Nike also means sweatshops,
zations that share its goals.6
McDonald’s represents unhealthy food and Ugly

Tangled Up In Blue 6
Americanism, Disney projects sweatshops and stereo- and is constantly being done—without the UN. The
types, Shell is associated with human rights violations posting of best practices sounds suspiciously like the
and ecological destruction, and the oil industry as a approach of the World Business Council for
whole is known for global warming, greed and abuse Sustainable Development and other groupings of self-
of power. selected corporate environmentalists and corporate
When the Secretary General of the United Nations humanitarians who have produced volumes of case
joins the heads of such corporations on the podium, studies on how business is doing good. This volun-
or when a UN agency joins such companies in a joint tary, anecdotal approach leads mainly to “incipient
venture, a disturbing messsage is sent to the public. and piecemeal progress,” as one UN report puts it.10
As the UNDP guidelines put it, when a UN agency Meanwhile, Pierre Sane, head of Amnesty
“is engaged in a public relations activity within the International, who appeared at the launch of the
framework of a corporate relationship, a mutual Global Compact, has already warned that only inde-
image transfer inevitably takes place.”7 pendent monitoring—with public reporting of the
This is especially true in the era of corporate brand- companies’ performance—along with strong enforce-
ing. With the image transfer, the UN’s positive image ment mechanisms such as sanctions, would give the
is vulnerable to being sullied by corporate criminals, Global Compact credibility.11
while companies get a chance to “bluewash” their Amnesty’s position reflects a broader sentiment
image by wrapping themselves in the flag of the among many human rights, labor and environmental
United Nations.”8 When biotech leaders Novartis and groups from around the world. For instance, the
Aventis appear as part of the Global Compact, there is Millenium Forum, an event organized by the UN in
an impression that the UN has officially endorsed its May 2000 to gain NGO input for the Millenium
products—genetically engineered seeds and foods— Assembly, called for a legally binding framework for
despite the enormous controversy over the issue.
Behind the issue of image is the issue of values.
The UN stands for peace, security, human rights,
development, environment and health. These values
must remain clear of the commercial values of corpo-
rations. Once the UN tarnishes its image with corpo-
rate brands, the compromising of its values is more
likely to follow.

4. No Monitoring or Enforcement
The Global Compact has no monitoring or enforce-
ment mechanism. This means companies that sign up
get to declare their allegiance to UN principles with-
out making a commitment to follow them. The cor-
porate partners have made it crystal clear that this
arrangement is a key prerequisite of their participa-
tion. As Maria Livianos Cattui, the secretary-general
of the International Chamber of Commerce recently
put it, “business would look askance at any sugges-
tion involving external assessment of corporate per-
formance, whether by special interest groups or by
UN agencies. The Global Compact is a joint commit-
ment to shared values, not a qualification to be met.
It must not become a vehicle for governments to bur-
den business with prescriptive regulations.”9
Given the ICC position, the Global Compact has
settled on the posting of so-called “best practices” by
the companies themselves on a UN website as a The UN has shown poor judgment by partnering with viola-
stand-in for independent montoring. Participating tors of human, labor and environmental rights. Ogoni peas-
NGOs can scrutinize the claims, and companies can ant tends her crops just 30 meters from a Shell gas flare.
rebut the NGOs. Of course this could all be done— Photo: Project Underground

Tangled Up In Blue 7
 Other Partnerships
Partnership programs are proliferating in the UN the proposed Global Sustainable Development
system, often before guidelines can be put in place, Facility, developed under the previous Administrator
and before the implications of the partnerships are Gus Speth. Mark Malloch-Brown, the new head of
understood. UNDP has killed the project, but touts other partner-
ships such as a BP Amoco fishing project in Angola
UNHCR and Unocal Corporation (see Global Compact Partners for a brief overview of
Former High Commissioner on Refugees Sadako BP Amoco) and a Chevron-sponsored business center
Ogata co-chaired two meetings of the Business in Kazakhstan.35 Chevron has been a leading oppo-
Humanitarian Forum with John Imle, President of nent of the UN-brokered Climate Convention on
Unocal, a company notorious for complicity in global warming. The company is also responsible
human rights violations in Burma. As a partner of for numerous local environmental problems in places
the brutal Burmese military government in the as far flung as Nigeria, Texas, California and
Yadana pipeline project, Unocal has benefited from Indonesia. The company currently faces a lawsuit
forced labor, forced relocations and other crimes car- for complicity in human rights violations in Nigeria.
ried out for security of the project. Two lawsuits
against Unocal alleging crimes against humanity are UNICEF
currently underway in federal courts. UNICEF has extensive interactions with corpora-
Although this is not a full UN partnership program, tions, and gets substantial income from the private
the High Commissioner showed remarkable insensi- sector. Executive Director Carol Bellamy points out
tivity by sharing the podium with the head of a com- that UNICEF is very careful to "constantly appraise"
pany that creates refugees in its business operations. the companies it deals with, and its guidelines
The Business Humanitarian Forum was founded by a exclude makers of products like infant formula and
former Vice President of Unocal, yet neither the High landmines. However UNICEF and WHO are part of
Commissioner nor many of the other humanitarian UNAIDS, a partnership with five major pharmaceuti-
organizations in attendance seem concerned that it cal companies, including (parent companies of) vio-
will be used to promote a good image for a company lators of the WHO Code of Marketing of Breastmilk
with such a bad reputation.34 Pro-democracy groups, Substitutes. According to the International Baby
including those working with Burmese refugees and Food Action Network, UNICEF also has a partner-
people affected specifically by Unocal, were out- ship with Johnson & Johnson, a known Code viola-
raged by UNHCR’s participation. tor. The partnerships are so troubling that at least
two UNICEF officials recently resigned in protest.36
UNESCO and Disney
UNESCO has a number of partnerships with the
UNAIDS and the Pharmaceutical Industry
private sector, mainly in the form of licensing agree- UNAIDS is sponsored by various UN agencies—
ments which allow the use of UNESCO’s logo or UNICEF, UNDP, WHO and others. It has a partner-
label. UNESCO excludes companies that violate ship with five pharmaceutical corporations
human rights, make or distribute, arms, tobacco or Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb,
alcohol. Yet it allowed its name to grace the Youth Hoffman-LaRoche, Glaxo Wellcom and Merck to
Millennium Dreamer Awards, organized mainly by address the AIDS crisis in Africa. These companies
Disney and presented in Disneyland in Orlando, are working with the UN to significantly lower the
Florida last spring. Disney is known for use of costs of AIDS drugs there. However, a number of
sweatshop labor in Haiti to make clothes with pic- AIDS groups charge that these companies’ intent—
tures of Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters. and collaterally the role of the UN—is to forestall the
Disney movies are characterized by racial and sexual seizure of drug company patents (and the loss of
stereotypes, making the company a questionable markets). Countries such as South Africa and
choice to sponsor Youth Awards. Thailand have passed "compulsory licensing" laws
that allow for the seizure of AIDS drug patents in the
UNDP and Chevron interest of reversing a massive human health
The UNDP drew the ire of activists last year with disaster.37

8 Tangled Up In Blue
regulating corporations with respect to human, labor demonstrate “responsible citizenship.” (For profit
and environmental rights.12 enterprises are not “citizens,” but the UN has accept-
Stuck between NGO insistence and business resist- ed this usage.)
ance, the UN claims it has neither the capacity nor The guidelines state that companies that violate
the mandate to monitor or enforce compliance with human rights “are not eligible for partnership.” This is
the Global Compact principles. an example of a guideline that most NGOs would sup-
But it is not at all clear that the UN enjoys a man- port. However, the UN claim that it lacks the capacity
date to develop the Global Compact either. In fact, to monitor corporations’ activities creates a “Catch
references to the Global Compact were deleted from 22” situation. How can the world body determine if a
an official UN declaration at the Copenhagen Plus 5 corporation is complicit in human rights violations if
Social Summit when a significant bloc of developing it cannot monitor its activities? Maybe this is why
country governments opposed its voluntary, non-bind- Mr. Annan violated the guidelines just a few days after
ing nature. As Roberto Bissio of the Third World they were published by inviting Shell to join the
Institute in Uruguay explains it, “the developing Global Compact and its associated partnerships.
countries were clearly not sympathetic to the Perhaps the most shocking aspect of the guidelines
Compact, not for any desire to leave transnational is the potential to use the UN olive branch emblem on
corporations off the hook, but out of fear that such an corporate funded projects or partnership projects.
arrangement might benefit them even more.”13 Companies may not use the logo to sell their prod-
ucts. But hypothetically, we could see a clinic funded
by Rio Tinto, operated by WHO, with the Rio Tinto
T h e U N ’ s and UN logos side by side. For activists fighting Rio
Tinto to save their own environment and health, that
G u i d e l i n e s would be quite a slap in the face. For Rio Tinto it
could be a PR bonanza—for example, if it were to
Business entities that are complicit in human rights publicize this collaboration with the UN in a televi-
abuses, tolerate forced or compulsory labor or the sion commercial.
use of child labour...or that otherwise do not meet the
At the launch of the Global Compact, when asked
relevant obligations or responsibilities by the United
if we might eventually see the Nike swoosh and the
Nations, are not eligible for partnership.
UN emblem side by side, a Nike representative
Guidelines [for] Cooperation Between the United refused to answer. When asked the next day in a
Nations and the Business Community, July 17, 2000 radio interview, she also evaded the question.14

he Secretary

T General’s
Guidelines on
Cooperation Between
the United Nations and
the Business
Community provide a
general guide for how
the UN should
increase its coopera-
tion with corporations
“in a manner that
ensures the integrity
and independence” of
the UN. The forms of
cooperation envisioned
include advocacy,
fundraising, policy dia-
logue, humanitarian
aid and development. When asked if we might eventually see the Nike swoosh and the UN emblem side by side, a
Business partners must Nike representative refused to answer. Nike sweatshop in Vietnam.
Photo: Dara O’Rourke

Tangled Up In Blue 9
Other UN Agency Guidelines WHO’s draft guidelines have been
the subject of controversy among
Encouraged by the Secretary their NGO partners. Health Action
General, many UN agencies have Companies can International (HAI) and International
started their own private sector part-
Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN),
nership programs. Agencies have also "bluewash" their both of which work closely with
promulgated guidelines for these
partnerships, including guidelines for image by wrapping WHO, wrote comprehensive and
rather scathing critiques of the draft
excluding companies with bad themselves in the guidelines. They included specific
records. For example, UNICEF’s
objections to provisions allowing sec-
guidelines exclude landmine, tobacco UN flag ondments of industry staff to the
and infant formula manufacturers.15
agency, and general questions about
The UNDP has guidelines emphasizing the need for the logic of entering partnerships with corporations.
assessment of companies to determine whether “the HAI wrote to Director General Gro Brundtland
activities or products of the corporation are compati- objecting to conflicts of interest between the “core
ble with UNDP image and ideals” and whether they purpose of WHO-which is to serve the public interest-
are “deemed to be ethically, socially or politically and the aim of pharmaceutical companies, which is to
controversial or of such a nature that involvement maximize profits for their shareholders.”17 IBFAN
with UNDP cannot be credibly justified to the general questioned the logic behind the partnership ideal,
public.” The guidelines mention “exploitative involve- pointing out that “caution and healthy distrust seem to
ment in developing nations, illegal financial transac- be the appropriate attitude for dealing with commer-
tions, drug trafficking, producing or trading in arms, cial enterprises, many of which are currently involved
child labour, activities endangering the environment, in a big PR exercise to represent themselves as
poor and/or exploitative working conditions for ‘responsible corporate citizens’ which should be
employees, poor gender policies, discriminatory allowed to operate with a minimum of outside inter-
behaviour, etc.”16 ference or regulation.” 18

Partial list of UN - Corporate Partnerships

UN Agency Name of Partnership Companies involved Status
Office of Global Compact Nike, Novartis, Shell Launched 1/99,
Sec. General UNEP, ILO, OHCHR Rio Tinto, BP, DuPont, companies join July
DaimlerChrysler, ABB, ICC 2000
UNDP GSDF Rio Tinto, Novartis, Abandoned
ABB, Dow
UNDP Private Sector Chevron, BP Ongoing in
Development Programmme Kazakhstan & Angola
UNDP NETAID Cisco Unclear
UNIDO Competitiveness through Fiat Started 12/98; -
Public-Private Partnership operational for auto
industry in India
OHCR Business Humanitarian Forum Unocal Held two meetings
UNESCO licensing agreements Boucheron, Mitsubishi, NKK Ongoing
UNESCO Youth Millennium Disney & McDonalds Gave out awards 5/00
Dreamer Awards
WHO Global Alliance for Placer Dome, Rio Tinto, others Not available
Community Health
WHO, UNICEF, UNAIDS Africa Partnership Boehringer Ingelheim, Ongoing
UNESCO, UNDP, etc. Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck
Hoffman-LaRoche, Glaxo Wellcom
UNOPS Business Advisory Council various Launched 5/00

Tangled Up In Blue 10
 A B r i e f
Kyoto Protocol to the Climate Convention, the
H i s t o r y Biodiversity Convention and its Biosafety Protocol.
The environment is not going to be saved by envi- In every one of these international meetings, corpo-
ronmentalists. Environmentalists do not hold the rate lobbyists, their industry associations and public
relations firms have aligned themselves with govern-
levers of economic power.
ments resisting these treaties and have aggressively
Maurice Strong, defending the central role attempted to undermine other governments’ efforts to
transnational corporations were playing in the 1992 address pressing global environmental problems.22
Earth Summit, of which he was Secretary General.
Similarly, Philip Morris, British American Tobacco,
and other tobacco companies worked for years to
ver the last decade, there had been a shift

O
undermine WHO tobacco control intiatives. These
from secretive, undue influence by business at corporations’ own documents show that they viewed
the United Nations, to a pattern WHO as one of their main enemies
of the UN inviting corporate influence. Corporate influ- and that they attempted to influence
In 1992, Secretary General Boutros WHO and other UN agencies, along
Boutros Ghali virtually eliminated the ence has been with representatives of developing
UN Center on Transnational rampant at UN countries, to resist tobacco control
Corporations (CTC), which had been efforts. The report states that “the
set-up to help developing countries negotiations to tobacco companies’ activities
monitor and negotiate with large compa- slowed and undermined effective
nies. The downsized CTC, incorporated protect health and tobacco control programs around the
into a new division, re-oriented itself world.”23
the environment
toward helping match up corporations In addition to the corporate influ-
and countries for foreign investments. ence at many specific negotiations
This change had been an objective of the U.S. as well sponsored by the UN, business has maintained an
as some of the UN’s most vocal critics, such as the overall agenda of weakening the UN itself. Over the
Heritage Foundation.19 last 10 years, its consistent position on matters under
At the same time, Maurice Strong, the Secretary UN auspices such as environment and human rights,
General of the UN Earth Summit, invited business is that voluntary, toothless agreements are best.
leaders to form a group to advise him on business’ Meanwhile, when it comes to the WTO and other
role in sustainable development. The Business trade negotiations, binding, enforceable rules favor-
Council for Sustainable Development played a able to transnationals are deemed appropriate.
prominent role at the Summit, and along with the
ICC, eliminated references to transnational corpo-
rations and emphasized the role of “self-regula-
tion.” The ICC was pleased with the outcome of
the Earth Summit, because “the possibility that
the conference might be pushed to lay down
detailed guidelines for the operations of transna-
tional corporations” did not materialize.20
Meanwhile, Mr. Strong created an “Eco-Fund”
to help finance the UN event. The Eco-Fund
franchised rights to the Earth Summit logo to the
likes of ARCO, ICI, and Mitsubishi Group mem-
ber Asahi Glass.21
In virtually every international environmental
negotiation since the Earth Summit, business has
played an prominent and aggressive role.
Corporate influence is rampant at negotiations of The biotechnology industry has actively lobbied against key
U.N.-sponsored international treaties and conven- provisions in the UN-brokered Biosafety Protocol. Protesters
tions to protect the global environment such as the rally against genetically modified food near San Francisco, USA.
Montreal Protocol to Protect the Ozone Layer, the Photo: Scott Braley

Tangled Up In Blue 11
 I d e o l o g y a n d
P o l i t i c s o f UN Subcommission for the Promotion and Protection
of Human Rights, there has been recognition that the
C o r p o r a t e WTO, in particular, has been a “nightmare” for devel-
P a r t n e r s h i p s oping countries and that the system of trade liberal-
ization needs a major overhaul.27
We cannot fail in this endeavor. Too much is at In his 1999 speech to business leaders in Davos,
stake. Globalization and open markets are at stake. Switzerland, Secretary General Annan warned of a
Ending world poverty is at stake. So too are human backlash against globalization, saying that enactment
decency and the future of the planet. of human rights, labor rights and environmental prin-
ciples are necessary to avoid threats “to the open
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan speaking about
global market, and especially the multilateral trading
the Global Compact, July 2000.
regime.”28 Just ten months before Seattle, he was
prescient on the backlash. But, by declaring that
he ideology behind the Global Compact is a

T
globalization should be saved by putting a “human
belief in the benefits of open markets, which face” on it, by saying that “social values” should be
are seen by high-ranking UN officials as “the “advanced as part and
only remotely viable means of pulling billions of peo- parcel of the globaliza- The UN could be
ple out of the abject poverty in which they find them- tion process,” 29 he has
selves.”24 The term “open markets” may sound entic- allied himself with the a counterbalance
ing, but in the real world it often means the kind of corporate agenda for
rules enforced by the WTO at the expense of develop- globalization at a to the WTO and
ing countries, farmers, consumers and the environ- moment when this corporate
ment. Peoples’ movements against corporate global- agenda is increasingly
ization have very specifically targeted these rules and under question. globalization
the ideology behind them. Clearly, the
It is undeniable that many UN, corporate and gov- Secretary General’s
ernment officials believe that globalization is essen- corporate gambit is driven not by pure ideology but
tially beneficial and merely needs some tinkering. As also by realpolitik. He is seeking political support
a Washington Post editorial on the Global Compact from powerful corporations who already have an
termed it, globalization needs a “softener” to dull its undue influence on the U.S. government. The United
harsh edge, prevent a backlash, and improve the dis- States still owes hundreds of millions of dollars in
tribution of benefits.25 unpaid dues to the UN—money withheld by Jesse
But there are many who see globalization as essen- Helms and other conservatives in the Senate (in part
tially “the push by big companies and financial insti- to pressure the UN to become more business friend-
tutions to have more power,” as Martin Khor, Director ly). By promising to “continue to make a strong case
of the Third World Network told the UN Millenium for free trade and open global markets,” as part of the
Forum last May. According to Khor and others, “we Global Compact, Mr. Annan has attempted to enlist
have to fight the system of globalization we have corporate bodies like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
today.”26 Even within the UN system, notably at the to return the favor and pressure Congress to pay the
money it owes.30
But in attempting this deal, the Secretary General
risks losing political support, even in the U.S., from
those who support only a corporate-free United
Nations. Kofi Annan is no doubt sincere in his desire
to improve the lot of the world’s poor. But when the
head of the United Nations offers support for the cor-
porate definition of free trade and open markets, and
allows these to be declared among the “shared values”
of the international community, he threatens a betray-
Mr. Annan has allied himself with the corporate globaliza- al of millions of people fighting for a more just inter-
tion agenda at a moment when it is increasingly under national economic order.
question. Anti-WTO protest, Seattle, November 1999.
photo: Marc Beck

Tangled Up In Blue 12
 T o w a r d a
C o r p o r a t e - 2. Support Binding International
Environmental and Public Health
F r e e U n i t e d Agreements
N a t i o n s While corporations and their industry associations
continue to lobby aggressively to weaken internation-
al agreements, these are key mechanisms that can be
Multinationals are too important for their conduct
used to hold transnational corporations accountable
to be left to voluntary and self-generated standards.
on a global scale.
UNDP Human Development Report 1999
Agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol, the
Biosafety Protocol and the Tobacco Convention are
created and enforced by governments. But because
f the Global Compact and other corporate partner- corporations are at the root of the problems they

I ships represent the low-road, then there are at least

four key steps that can be taken to build a high-road.
address, these agreements provide a framework for
subordinating these companies to universal values
such as environmental rights.
1. Support the Sub-Commission on the Pro-UN activists should work to roll back corporate
Promotion and Protection of Human efforts to unduly influence multilateral environmental
and health negotiations, while supporting binding
Rights agreements to reign in abusive corporate behavior.
The Sub-Commission is composed of 26 independ-
ent members, and is the main subsidiary body of the
3. Insist on the payment of U.S. dues
UN Commission on Human Rights. A recent report
for the Sub-Commission, looking at globalization The U.S. is a deadbeat donor to the United Nations.
through the prism of human rights, has called the It has explicitly, and at times implicitly, sought to use
WTO a “nightmare” for developing countries, and its financial leverage to further bring the UN under its
calls for the trade body to be brought under the UN’s sphere of influence. Of course, central to this sphere
purview. In contrast to the Secretary General’s belief is the corporate globalization agenda, and its volun-
that the multilateral trade regime is the success story tary, self-regulatory approach to issues of human
of the century, the report calls for a “radical review of rights, labor rights and the environment, along with a
the whole system of trade liberalization.”’31 binding approach to all things economic.
Furthermore, the Sub-Commission has a Working Pro-UN activists in the US should pressure their
Group on transnational corporations and human government to pay the UN the money it owes.
rights. This Working Group decided at its 1999 ses- Payment must not come with strings attached.
sion to draft a Code of Conduct on corporations and
human rights. The Code was approved for further 4. Support the Citizens Compact
development at the August, 2000 meeting. The docu-
ment made it clear that the Code might eventually be Endorsed by more than 70 human rights and envi-
viewed as legally binding, and that provisions for ronmental groups from around the world, the Citizens
monitoring and compliance would be integrated into Compact lays out a foundation for cooperation
the Code.32 between the UN and non-business, non-governmental
groups to work for the proper relationships between
Unfortunately, the U.S. opposes this foray into the
the UN and business. The Citizens Compact empha-
topic of human rights and corporations, and has
sizes the need for monitoring and the enforcement of
called on the UN to eliminate the Subcommission
a legal framework for corporate behavior.
entirely. The U.S. has backed proposals that would
drastically curtail its capacity.33 Pro-UN activists should support the Citizens
Compact, as well as initiatives such as the Millenium
Pro-UN activists should support and defend the
Forum's call for a binding legal framework to control
important work of the Subcommission. The call for
corporate activity.
the dissolution of the Subcommision must be resisted.

Tangled Up In Blue 13
A p p e n d i x A
T h e G l o b a l C o m p a c t
The Principles Companies Supporting
the Global Compact
Human Rights
ABB Ltd. Sweden/Switzerland
The Secretary-General asked world business to:
Aluminum Bahrain Bahrain
Principle 1: support and respect the protection of interna- Aracruz Celulose SA Brazil
tional human rights within their sphere of influence; Aventis France/Germany
Principle 2: make sure their own corporations are not com- Bayer Corporation Germany
plicit in human rights abuses. BP Amoco Corporation United Kingdom/USA
Labour BASF Germany
British Telecom United Kingdom
The Secretary-General asked world business to uphold:
Charoen Phokpand Group Thailand
Principle 3: freedom of association and the effective recog- Concord Mexico
nition of the right to collective bargaining; Credit Suisse Group Switzerland
Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and com- Dupont USA
pulsory labour; DaimlerChrysler Germany/USA
Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu France/United Kingdom
Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of Deutsche Bank AG Germany
employment and occupation. Deutsche Telekom AG Germany
Eskom South Africa
Environment Esquel Group Hong Kong
The Secretary-General asked world business to: France Telecom France
Principle 7: support a precautionary approach to environ- Gerling Group Germany
mental challenges; Organizacoes Globo Brazil
Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater envi- Group Suez Lyonnaise France
ronmental responsibility; and International Service System Denmark
Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of LM Ericsson Sweden
environmentally friendly technologies. Martina Berto Group Thailand
Minas Buenaventura Peru
Labor and Civil Society Organizations Natura Cosmeticos Brazil
Nike Inc. USA
and Business Associations Supporting
Norsk Hydro ASA Norway
the Global Compact Novartis Switzerland
Labor & Civil Society Pearson plc. United Kingdom
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions Power Finance Corporation India
Amnesty International Rio Tinto plc. United Kingdom
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights Royal Dutch/Shell Group United Kingdom/Netherlands
Human Rights Watch SAP Germany
The World Conservation Union Seri Sugar Mills Ltd. Pakistan
World Wide Fund for Nature ST Microelectronics France
World Resource Institute Statoil Norway
International Institute for Environment and Development The Tata Iron and Steel Company Ltd. India
Regional International Networking Group
3 Suisses France France
UBS AG Switzerland
Business Associations
Unilever United Kingdom/Netherlands
International Chamber of Commerce
Volvo Car Corporation Sweden/USA
International Organization fo Employers
WebMD USA
World Business Council on Sustainable Development
Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum
Business for Social Responsibility For the UN’s perspective on the Global Compact, see
http://www.unglobalcompact.org/

Tangled Up In Blue 14
 A p p e n d i x B

CITIZENS COMPACT
ON THE UNITED NATIONS
AND CORPORATIONS
PREAMBLE

In January 1999, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan called for a “Global Compact”
between the UN and the business community. In that compact, he challenged business leaders to
embrace and enact nine core principles derived from UN agreements on labor standards, human rights
and environmental protection. In exchange, he promised, the UN will support free trade and open mar-
kets.

Citizen organizations and movements recognize that the private sector has enormous influence on
human health, environment, development and human rights. Everyone shares the hope that economic
well-being will bring real human development and ecological security. Yet as UNICEF Executive
Director Carol Bellamy has said, “It is dangerous to assume that the goals of the private sector are
somehow synonymous with those of the United Nations because they most emphatically are not.” At
times corporations work at cross purposes to the wider realization of rights and responsibilities
enshrined in United Nations covenants, declarations and agreements.

The growing concentration of wealth and power in the hands of fundamentally undemocratic global
corporations and other institutions of globalization with no accountability to governments or peoples is
in direct conflict with the principles and aims of the United Nations to enhance human dignity and the
capacity for self-governance. As the UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights puts it, the UN should not
support institutions or corporations whose activities “create benefits for a small privileged minority at
the expense of an increasingly disenfranchised majority.”

Citizen organizations and movements support the mission and values of the United Nations. These
objectives must have primacy of place and must not be subordinated to commercial trade, investment
and finance rules. The UN, as an institution that prioritizes human rights, health, labor standards, sus-
tainable development and ecological protection over commercial interests, must have the capacity to
exercise its mandate.

Citizens organizations and movements recognize that declining financial support from governments
to the UN and its specialized agencies make their job harder. The UN must adjust to these circum-
stances; however it must do so while adhering to its Charter and its impartiality, and without compro-
mising its commitment to its fundamental principles.

We propose a compact between the UN and civil society, regarding the UN’s relationship with the
private sector. With this compact, we pledge our active support for a strengthening of the United
Nations, financially and politically. Adherence to these nine principles will safeguard the image, mis-
sion and credibility of the United Nations as it deals with the private sector.

Tangled Up In Blue 15
THE PRINCIPLES
1. Multinational corporations are too important for their conduct to be left to voluntary and self-gen-
erated standards. A legal framework, including monitoring, must be developed to govern their
behavior on the world stage.
2. The United Nations will continue to develop tools to ensure universal values of environmental pro-
tection and human rights, through such mechanisms as multilateral environmental and human
rights agreements, codes of marketing, and ILO conventions.
3. The United Nations recognizes the legitimate purpose of national and local legislation to protect
ecosytems, human health, labor standards, and human rights. The United Nations will assist civil
society and governments in enacting and implementing such legislation.
4. The UN must find ways to ensure that other intergovernmental bodies, such as the IMF, World
Bank and WTO, do not depart from the principles and goals of the UN Charter.
5. United Nations agencies will advise and offer assistance to corporations wishing to understand and
improve their human rights and environmental behavior. Such assistance will not be considered a
“partnership.”
6. The United Nations does not endorse or promote products or brand names of any private corpora-
tion, and will avoid the appearance of such endorsements.
7. The United Nations will avoid any public association or financial relationship with companies with
destructive practices, or products that are harmful to human health or the environment. Before
entering any relationship with a corporation, the UN will thoroughly evaluate whether the objec-
tives of that company are compatible with those of the UN. In doing so, it must set up open and
transparent processes of dialogue with NGOs and community groups with expertise on those cor-
porations’ activities.
8. The United Nations and its agencies will continue to fulfill their mission with funding from gov-
ernments. In cases where private corporations wish to make a donation, the money will go to pro-
grams that have no connection to commercial projects for that company.
9. The UN will act with full transparency in all its dealings with the private sector, at the conceptual,
planning and implementation stages. NGOs should have access to the same information in this
regard as the private sector.

Partial list of groups endorsing the Citizens Compact and/or opposing

the Global Compact
• Berne Declaration (Switzerland) • BAYERwatch (Germany) • Brazilian Institute of Economic and Social
Analysis • Centro de Derechos Humanos y Medio Ambiente (Argentina) • Chile Sustentable (Chile) • Corporate
Europe Observatory (Netherlands) • Ecoropa (France) • Environmental Rights Action/Friends Of The Earth
(Nigeria) • Essential Action (U.S.) • Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy (U.S.) • Friends of the
Earth (England, Wales and No. Ireland) • Global Exchange (U.S.) • Greenpeace International (The Netherlands)
• Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (U.S.) • Institute for Policy Studies (U.S.) • International Baby Food
Action Network • International Forum on Globalization (U.S.) • International NGO Committee on Human
Rights in Trade and Investment (India) • International Rivers Network (USA) • International South Group
Network (Zimbabwe) • Lokayan and International Group for Grassroots Initiatives (India) • Movimiento
Autoridades Indígenas de Colombia (Colombia) • Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP)
(Nigeria) • Organic Consumers Association (U.S.) • Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy (U.S.)
• Project Underground (U.S.) • Rural Advancement Foundation International (Canada) • South Asia Network on
Dams, Rivers and People (India) • Tebtebba Foundation (The Philippines) • Third World Network (Malaysia) •
Transnational Institute (Netherlands) • Transnational Resource & Action Center/CorpWatch(U.S.) • Women's
Environment and Development Network (U.S.) • Third World Institute (Uruguay)

Tangled Up In Blue 16
 E n d n o t e s
1 Kofi Annan “Working Together,” Business in Africa, 15 Speech of UNICEF Executive Carol Bellamy, April 16,
February 2000. 1999.
2 Kofi Annan address to World Economic Forum in 16 “Guidelines and Procedures For Mobilization Of
Davos, Switzerland, Feb. 1, 1999, on file with authors. Resources,” UNDP, November 1998.
3 Executive Conclusions, “High Level Meeting on The 17 Letter of Bas van der Heide, Coordinator of HAI
Global Compact” July 26, 2000, United Nations Europe, to Dr. Gro Brundtland, May 28, 1999
Headquarter. www.haiweb.org/news.brundtland.htm.
4 “Guidelines—Cooperation Between the United Nations 18 International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN)
and Business Community,” Office of the Secretary Comments on WHO Guidelines on Interaction with
General, published July 17, 2000. Commercial Enterprises (Preliminary version July
5 Speech of UNICEF Executive Carol Bellamy to 1999) posted on haiweb.org/news/ibfancomments.html.
Harvard International Development Conference, 19 Joshua Karliner, The Corporate Planet: Ecology and
Cambridge, Mass. April 16, 1999 www.unicef.org/ Politics in the Age of Globalization, (Sierra Club
exspeeches/99esp5.htm. Books, 1997), San Francisco, pp. 52-55.
6 Some confusion arises because of the way the UN uses 20 Jan-Olaf Willums & Ulrich Goluke, From Ideas to
words describing the relationship with business. The Action: Business and Sustainable Development, The
title of the draft WHO guidelines, for example, refers to Greening of Enterprise 1992, International
“interaction” with commercial enterprises. But else- Environmental Bureau of the International Chamber of
where WHO uses the term “partnership.” The Secretary Commerce, Norway, May 1992, p.20-21.
General's July guidelines refer to “cooperation” with 21 Joshua Karliner The Corporate Planet, p. 172.
the business communinty, but again uses “partnership”
elsewhere. Overall, there is little doubt that “partner- 22 For an overview see, Joshua Karliner, The Corporate
ship” is the way the UN describes the relationship Planet, pp. 50-57; various sources on the climate issue
aspired to with the business community, and it is the exist, for a diversity of resources see http://www.corp-
most commonly used term. watch.org/feature/climate, and for a comment by Tim
Wirth when he was with the Clinton administration see:
7 “Guidelines and Procedures For Mobilization Of John H. Cushman, Jr., “U.S. Will Seek Pact on Global
Resources From the Private Sector,” UNDP Division Warming” The New York Times, July 17, 1996; on cor-
for Resources Mobilization and External Affairs, porate meddling in the Montreal Protocol’s efforts to
November 1998. phase-out methyl bromide see Joshua Karliner, Alba
8 Letter from TRAC et al to Secretary General Kofi Morales, Dara O’Rourke, The Bromide Barons: Methyl
Annan, July 25th, 2000 http://www.corpwatch.org/ Bromide, Corporate Power and Environmental Justice,
globalization/un/gcltr2.html. Political Ecology Group/Transnational Resource &
9 Maria Livanos Cattaui “Yes to Annan’s ‘Global Action Center, San Francisco, May 1997, pp. 18-21; on
Compact’ if It Isn’t a License to Meddle” International corporate influence in the Commission on Sustainable
Herald Tribune July 26, 2000. Development regarding the biotechnology issue see
“UN Accused of Industry Bias on Biotech” Third World
10 Peter Utting, “Business Responsibility for Sustainable Resurgence, no. 58, Penang, June 1995 and on the
Development,” United Nation Research Institute for Biosafety Protocol to the Biodiversity Convention see
Social Development, Geneva Jan. 2000. Andrew Pollack, “Setting Rules for Biotechnology
11 Statement by Pierre Sane, Amnesty International, Trade,” The New York Times, February 15, 1999.
Global Compact Press Conference, United Nations 23 “Tobacco Companies Strategies to Undermine Tobacco
Headquarter, July 26, 2000. Control Activities at the World Health Organization –
12 William New, “UN: NGOs Call for Corporate Report of the Committee of Experts on Tobacco
Regulation” UN Foundation, June 1, 2000. Industry Documents,” World Health Organization, July
13 Personal Communication with Roberto Bissio, Third 2000; Gordon Fairclough “Cigarette Firms Tried to Foil
World Institute, Uruguay, July 10, 2000; Personal WHO, Say Investigators,” Wall Street Journal August
Communication with Rosalind Petchesky, Board 2000.
Member, Women’s Environment & Development 24 Letter from Undersecretary General John Ruggie to
Organization (WEDO), July 27, 2000. TRAC et al, July 24, 2000 on file with authors.
14 Question to Maria Eitel Vice President of Nike, Global 25 “Taming Globalization” The Washington Post, August
Compact press conference, UN Headquarters, July 7, 2000.
26th, 2000, webcast at www.un.globalcompact.org; 26 Speech by Martin Khor, Director of Third World
Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now, July 27, 2000. Network, at the Opening Session of the Millennium
Forum, New York, May 22, 2000.
Tangled Up In Blue 17
Endnotes, continued
27 Robert Evans “Report for UN Calls World Trade Body 33 Joshua Karliner, “A Perilous Partnership” Transnational
‘Nightmare’” Reuters, Geneva, August 11, 2000. Resource & Action Center, San Francisco March, 1999
28 “Secretary General Proposes Global Compact On p. 9.
Human Rights, Labour, Environment, In Address to 34 Business Humanitarian Forum, “Building Mutual
World Economic Forum in Davos,” www.un.org/part- Support Between Humanitarian Organization and the
ners/business/davos.htm. Business Community” undated report on Jan. 27th,
29 Text of the Global Compact, 1999 version, 1999 meeting of the BHF; Conference Agenda,
www.un.org/partners/business.fs1.htm. This language “Defining New Cooperation in the Humanitarian
was removed from later on-line versions of the Global Agenda,” Nov. 1-2, 1999 Washington D.C., and letter
Compact. from John Horekens, Director, Division of
Communications and Information, UNHCR, to TRAC
30 See Kofi Annan, “Address to the Chamber of et al, Oct. 8, 1999, on file with authors.
Commerce of the United States of America”
Washington DC, June 8, 1999. 35 Claudia H. Deutsch, “Unlikely Allies with the United
Nations,” New York Times p. C1, December 10, 1999.
31 “Report for UN Calls World Trade Body ‘Nightmare’,”
August 11, 2000. 36 “UNICEF Accused of Forming Alliance with Baby
Food Industry,” British Medical Journal, July 15, 2000.
32 David Weissbrodt, “Principles relating to the human
rights conduct of companies,” working paper prepared 37 Rachel L. Swarns “Loans to Buy AIDS Drugs are
for the Commission On Human Rights Sub- Rejected by Africans” The New York Times, July 22,
Commission on the Promotion and Protection of 2000.
Human Rights, 52nd session Item 4, May 2, 2000.

Tangled Up In Blue 18
 This report was written by Kenny Bruno and Joshua Karliner.

TRAC counters corporate-led globalization through education and activism. We work to foster democratic
control over corporations by building grassroots globalization – a diverse movement for human rights, labor
rights and environmental justice.

Our website Corporate Watch provides visitors news, analysis, action resources and research tools.
www.corpwatch.org the watchdog on the web

This report is available in PDF format on the web at: http://www.corpwatch.org/un

Thanks to: Debi Barker, Beth Handman, Miloon Kothari, Julie Light, Alison Linnecar, Mele Smith, Elisabeth Sterken

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